THUNDER BAY -- Dispelling myths about animals is as easy as reaching out and touching them.
Little Ray's Reptile Zoo has slithered, hopped and flew through Thunder Bay many times but they nest for longer every time they reach this point on the trail.
"Every year we come, it's busier and busier," said zoo outreach and education director Delvis Niedzialek. "This year instead of two days we have three full days."
Little Ray's specializes in breaking down animal myths children think they know and building them up into facts.
Through interactive discussions, its staff teaches about tortoises and rabbits to owls and hawks all the way up to kangaroos and boa constrictors. This year, a lynx took the stage for the first time.
Niedzialek said staff is more than willing to assist with resources for those visitors who are interested in owning an exotic animal as a pet but most people want to talk about the animals they've seen in their back yard and what they can do to help conserve nature.
The traveling exhibit focuses on these smaller cities surrounded by nature instead of larger centres where natural experiences are more commonly associated with zoos.
"When we go to smaller cities like this one, like Fredricton, like Edmunston all the smaller cities, they're so much more appreciative because they don't have all those resources so this is the one time a year they can experience this kind of an event."
This year, zoo staff is pushing children, parents and teachers to learn more about the endangered species in Ontario and how we can learn more about our local ecosystems in formal settings.
"We ask, 'have you heard giant pandas are endangered?' Of course you have. 'Have you heard of gorillas?' Of course you have. You've heard about elephants. We've heard of all these animals that live nowhere near us. Then we ask people name one of the 400-plus plants and animals that are endangered in Canada and people have a really hard time," Niedzialek said.
"Eight out of our nine turtles are disappearing in Ontario. People have a really hard time naming even one of them and it's not in our school curriculums so it's something we encourage parents and kids to ask their teachers to focus on."
Little Ray's Reptile Zoo staff will be rotating their two presentations in the Coliseum building on the C.L.E. grounds on Friday until 8 p.m., then Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
